JELLYBEAN by Steve
by gumtuu
Summary: an answer to the Cupid mad libs challenge


Here's my entry for the mad libs challenge...  
  
JELLYBEAN  
by steve Oyervidez  
  
Despite her best efforts, Trevor caught up to Claire on the sidewalk.  
  
"Hey, looking keen, jellybean..." he said with a smile.  
  
Claire exhaled, not amused. And not slowing down. "And here I thought the  
fifties were over, Trevor."  
  
He looked at her meaningfully. "Would you prefer I called you an insatiable  
sex dumpling in the buffet of love?"  
  
"You can call me anything you want, Trevor. If you do it from very far  
away. How about Antarctica?"  
  
"Spoil sport. Use could use a good buffeting every once and awhile. It's  
just like you to take a perfectly good food as sex metaphor and ruin it.  
Claire, you could even make a hyena stop laughing."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean? Not that I care, but... What's that supposed  
to mean?"  
  
"It means that if you look in the dictionary under the term 'tight ass' it  
says SEE CLAIRE ALLEN..." Trevor leaned back to appreciate the view as he  
walked. "Although in your case that may be a compliment..."  
  
"Trevor, for once can't you pretend to have a life where you don't even  
know me?"  
  
"You know what your problem is, Claire?"  
  
"Delusional outpatients following me around everywhere?" she offered.  
  
Trevor ignored it. "You have no imagination."  
  
"Funny... Since I can imagine a day where you 'don't' accost me on my way  
to work..."  
  
Trevor suddenly looked at her head, as if noticing something for the first  
time. She didn't know how to react. Then without warning he reached out to  
the side of her face, but she pulled it back.  
  
"Trevor, what are you doing?"  
  
Looking serious, he reached out again and he touched her ear... pulling his  
hand back with a pink jellybean between his fingers.  
  
"Sorry, you had something stuck in there, Claire."  
  
"Ha ha," Claire said without enthusiasm. "That's an old trick, Trevor. I  
might have fallen for it once... when I was five or so..."  
  
He wasn't listening, reaching up again and then... appearing to pull out  
another pink jellybean. His fingers grazed her cheek for one tantalizing  
moment as his hand withdrew.  
  
"Look at that, Claire... Same color. Same flavor. Over and over again..."  
  
Trevor popped it into his mouth without hesitation and began to chew.  
Claire smiled, still walking. But then Trevor reached out and pulled out  
another one, gently grazing her cheek, and then another. And another again,  
all of them pink, popping each into his mouth if he had an insatiable  
appetite for them, not looking like he was going to stop anytime soon.  
  
Claire couldn't help but smile, almost laughing as they continued down the  
sidewalk and Trevor kept pulling jellybeans from her ear. Looking around,  
Claire realized how ridiculous they must look walking down the crowded  
sidewalk. Her skin was tingling where Trevor grazed her cheek each time.  
But he didn't stop, more and more jellybeans going into his mouth, over a  
dozen know in that short span of time. Suddenly, Claire made a vaguely  
disgusted face.  
  
Still chewing, Trevor looked at her. "What's wrong?"  
  
"That's a little... disgusting, Trevor."  
  
"You do realize these aren't actually coming from your ear..."  
  
"No, I mean the jellybeans. How can you eat that many? I hate those  
things."  
  
"Figures. How can you hate jellybeans? What's not to love? They're sweet,  
they're gooey, they're pointless..."  
  
"Sounds familiar. Reminds me of a certain patient with nothing better to do  
today apparently..."  
  
"Hey, believe me, I'll accept that description. Except for that 'not to  
love' part. I've always done my best to change that. But no matter how hard  
I try, you just won't buy a ticket on the Trevor train."  
  
"It's probably a short ride..."  
  
"Not the way I conduct. Someday I'll show you my engine and let you stoke  
the boilers. That ride is transcontinental, non stop express, and believe  
me. It gets you there. Sometimes twice."  
  
"As totally unappealing as that sounds, I still don't like jellybeans,  
Trevor."  
  
"Your loss..." Trevor casually reached up and pulled another jellybean from  
her ear like she was a dispenser. Pink like all the others, he popped it  
into his mouth.  
  
Claire blinked, suddenly realizing Trevor was wearing a short sleeved  
shirt. His arms were bare, and his hands were never out of view. How was he  
doing that? She pushed the thought aside.  
  
"Trevor, maybe I don't like jellybeans because They ACTUALLY ARE pointless.  
Like... I don't know, hoping to see you act normal for a day."  
  
"Trust me, it's no act..."  
  
She continued. "Like lawyers praying for absolution. Or like tacky plastic  
pink flamingos on someone's perfectly good front lawn."  
  
"I get it. Like turning a cactus into a chia pet..."  
  
"Jellybeans just don't serve any functional or beneficial purpose in my  
life, Trevor."  
  
"SO what? Where are all those plastic pink flamingos supposed to live?"  
  
"Trevor..."  
  
"Claire, sometimes it's the pointless things that make life worth living."  
  
He reached out and stopped her on the sidewalk, looking at her as people  
continued to stream past. Without a word he held out his arm, showing her  
his empty palm. Then he clenched it into a fist, turning it over. Opening  
his fingers slowly... a heavy, continuous stream of pink jellybeans rained  
down out of his hand, seemingly more than he could possibly be holding as  
they scattered everywhere on the sidewalk at their feet.  
  
Claire watched in wonder, not believing her eyes, almost laughing in  
amazement.  
  
"Trevor, how did-"  
  
He smiled at her. "Just the voodoo I do so well. Always said we good were a  
dexterous lot. You'd be surprised. I wish you'd let me show you all the  
amazing thins I can do with my hands..."  
  
Still astonished, Claire reached out and grabbed his wrist, turning it  
over, still wondering where all the jellybeans had come from.  
  
Trevor guided her gaze down. "Look at all that on the floor, Claire.  
This... is your brain. This is your brain on the sidewalk. This is your  
brain as a pink jellybean. Any questions? Notice anything? They're all the  
same! As pretty as that brain of your is, there's no variety!"  
  
"Variety? Trevor, this may come as a bit of a shock to you, considering  
your... 'condition', but our brains a re all pretty much alike. Brain,  
blood, bone, all the same. Until you start believing your a Roman Love God,  
then you're pretty much on your own..."  
  
"I'm not talking about the parts, Claire. I'm talking about the perception.  
You always do the same thing! Day after day. The same route, the same  
routine, the same rut! Can you imagine if everything in the world were  
exactly the same everyday? If everything was always pink jellybeans? How  
boring would that be?" Thinking about it, Trevor liked his lips. "Although  
you might not provide the best analogy, since you do have this really  
stimulating flavor that raises... several intriguing possibilities."  
  
"Trying to find life truisms in a pile of cheap candy, Trevor? You haven't  
been eating any funny brownies Champ has lying around, have you?"  
  
"Claire my point is as monochrome as those jellybeans. Like the bland  
leading the bland! Most people accidentally wander into the Dull Zone, but  
you kamikaze into it! If someone who believed in Buddhism were reincarnated  
into your life, they'd pray to get out of the loop..."  
  
"Well, lucky for them, this life is already occupied."  
  
"Yeah, but not by much."  
  
Shaking her head, she began to walk again. "Trevor, what do you want from  
me..."  
  
He gave her a long look.  
  
She smiled. "Besides that..."  
  
Reaching up, he pulled another pink jellybean from her ear. Instead of  
eating it, he offered it to her. "You're living your life but it's like you  
haven't even tried it yet. Do something different for once. Instead of  
walking the road you've most traveled. At least try one, Claire..."  
  
With a sigh, Claire finally took it from him. reluctantly she popped it  
into her mouth, pausing after she chewed. Suddenly her face lifted, really  
starting to enjoy it.  
  
Trevor smiled. "See! Apollo was wrong. Mortals can be taught!"  
  
"Trevor... this is... this is really good..."  
  
"Only if you try a new one everyday..."  
  
She was still chewing. "What flavor is this?"  
  
Trevor started to walk away, grinning back at her as he popped another pink  
jellybean into his mouth. "Pink flamingo, actually..."  
  
Claire smiled as he walked away, Feeling better than she had been, she went  
on her way to work, already making plans to stop by the candy sore along  
the way.  
  
The end. 


End file.
